receivers that would connect properly with that transmitter. so, the big -- the pictures we have seen of him at his laboratory, which was about 222 feet tall, and he tested out what we know as the tesla crown. basically by having lightning go off in the room because the tesla coil takes current that we get normally and increases the frequency to a point where it is in the numerous -- an enormous amount of voltage. one of the popular stories that came out of his experiments here was that he and his were working with light -- and all of a sudden, electricity filling his lab, creating thunder, it the top, and about five or six seconds, it went off. tesla asked why did you shut that off. and she said, i didn't. what happened was that he blew out the power plant in town. but in terms of the practical things that came out of his work here, he certainly laid the basis for x-rays, for fluorescent lights, and a things we have today and he was one of a scientists at that time that made a major contribution to the technological age we have today. >> all weekend, "american

history tv" is in colorado springs, colorado. gold was discovered in the city ains surrounding the in the 1890's, resulting in one of the richest gold strikes in american history. it was nicknames, the city of millionaires. her staff y to recently visited many sites showcasing the city's history. colorado e about springs all weekend, here on "american history tv". as colorado springs is known a city because of our fantastic of sunshine 00 days a terrific semiarid climate, but also because of great opportunities for outdoor recreation. tremendous trailer park systems you can spend everyday -- something the equivalent to a national park -- read outside your backdoor. but shortly after settlement of

colorado springs in 1871, we really became known as a destination for people with tuberculosis, in particular. tuberculosis in the 19th century was the leading killer in the united states. it was a disease that affected just about everybody in the country. of during the early years the city's development, really that was treatments offered to people with newly to gnosed tuberculosis was go out west and to seek a cure. come to colorado springs essentially on the recommendation of a doctor to go to l them secure, to get out of your urban environment, leave your job in a factory, and to go seek health care. colorado springs, in particular, attractive was the fresh air and the sunshine. we actually promoted colorado for ngs is a destination

people with tuberculosis. really for colorado springs, one of our first and only industries -- was healthcare. colorado springs was founded in the place without a major industry and healthcare became the major industry. through the 1880's about the 1940's. they the early years, would come -- and you can see in this gallery -- they would waters of manitou, they would spend time in the garden of the gods, they would spend time in the great -- using those methas of treatmen -- methods was a form of treatment. shortly after, a new movement developed called the sanatorium movement. sanatorium's work a less active way of treating the disease.

managed healthcare in which you are under the close of doctors and nurses who provided a daily air, and f rest, fresh excellent diet, and monitoring by healthcare professionals. those things combined helped lead to a cure, reportedly, after 60% of the time. because of how closely connected colorado springs as to the self-care movement, we a very rich collection related to tuberculosis treatment and the healthcare industry. is this cola bottle. manitou contains the book of her mineral springs in the area. you can still go there today and drink from the mineral springs. a lot of water and water, initially, was one of

the key reasons why people came here. they ke the waters -- what called promenading from spring to spring. the waters are very mineral heavy. each spring has a little bit different taste to it. some of our that -- was a mmercial activities result of the connection people came and stayed. a man ample of that is named artis. he came here to recover from was supposed and to stop working, but cannot get away from it. this is a photo of him, working piece called the chalice cup.

it won international acclaim. one of the e chalice cups from his pottery in our collection. this is from our collection. the pottery has been an active part of our community. highly prized in collectible all across the world and people come from all visit the orld to museum today to do research and appreciate our extensive collection. i mentioned earlier that colorado springs marketed itself for healthcare. of the pamphlets put together by our chamber of commerce from the early 20th century. we promoted ourselves all over the country,

we promoted ourselves all over the country, if not the world, as a destination for people with health care issues, especially tuberculosis, to come and secure. we marketed ourselves as a location that was aseptic and free from altering life. i don't know that others -- that that claim would hold water today. the museum holds an original hut. there would have been thousands of these, or similar huts, and all of the sanatorium's around the community. they are patterned off of an american indian tepee, especially ute tepees. dr. charles fox gardner who came up with the concept design is for natural airflow. just like a tepee, air flows from the bottom up through the top. so it is designed to maximize the amount of fresh air -- 30 one of these at each of the sanatorium's. designed to isolate patients and understand the communicable nature of the disease. about sanitary conditions -- and to teach them about sanitary conditions and good health care practices, so that when they go back to their homes, their jobs, their families, they can help to instead hat information of the disease. the sanatorium era lasted from roughly the late 1880's until after world war ii. during world war ii, streptomycin was discovered. that fought off tuberculosis and to cure tuberculosis chemically as opposed to the age-old method of fresh air and food.

by world war ii, this part of her history was coming to an end. what had been our major industry in the community was going away. to recover from that is we attracted the military. so today, colorado springs is affiliated with the military with five major installation to colorado springs, including the u.s. air force academy. so that part of our history -- this idea of colorado springs as a military town -- is simply evolution from colorado springs the health resort. >> all weekend long, "american history tv" is featuring colorado springs, colorado.